Prosecutorial Misconduct, The Devil’s Bargain – The Other #MeToo Victims

Revelation after revelation about government misconduct is coming to light at breakneck speed as the many details of the DOJ’s “Trump Campaign – Russian Collusion” case surface. Even the federal judge in the Paul Manafort case brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller excoriated the prosecution, telling them, “C’mon man! You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort. You really care about what information Mr. Manafort can give you to lead you to Mr. Trump and an impeachment, or whatever.”

Judge Ellis very clearly suggested that the prosecutors were lying to the court, thereby seeking “unfettered power” in their effort to bring down the president at all costs. All very illegal.

Television and radio pundits have commented thousands of times in recent weeks that prosecutors are well known for their tactic of bringing bogus charges against innocent associates of the real targets, forcing them to choose between the truth and prison. Many victims sacrifice truth to avoid an unjust prison sentence, and rather than “sing” like the proverbial canary, instead are forced to “compose” to keep prison at bay. I have termed this the Devil’s Bargain.

Here is the problem with prosecutors blackmailing innocent people to lie about their associates’ criminal activity: IT IS A FELONY! It should be prosecuted.

Suborning perjury is a serious crime. It is a felony in every state, and in the federal statutes. It destroys lives, families, and ends careers. I know, because it happened to me.

Let me share my harrowing experience with you, so you can see how casually it happens. I used to practice law, and was general counsel to a mid-sized family owned business. I had hired Allen Davis, an attorney I respected from law school to work in the corporation’s legal department. Six years after I had moved on to another company, I was asked by federal IRS agents to come to the local IRS office to fill in some blanks about my former client. I dutifully showed up, truthfully answered the federal prosecutor’s questions, assuring them that I had never seen any signs of criminal activity while I worked at that company.

Rather than thank me for my time and candor, the federal prosecutor abruptly told me that he didn’t like what I had told him, and insisted that if I didn’t confess that my employers had committed tax fraud crimes, that I would be indicted with them as a co-conspirator. I was shocked that the prosecutor would even suggest such a scenario. I told him that I had no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. He said he didn’t care. The only way I could avoid federal prosecution was to admit that we had all committed these crimes together–but not to worry, because I would receive immunity in exchange for my ‘composed’ testimony. I told him that was unlawful and that he was committing a crime. He thought that was funny.

The prosecutor told me that if I refused to accept his deal, that Allen Davis had already agreed to take the deal, and testify that we were all in on committing the crimes, but he would receive immunity in exchange for his testimony. If I wanted the deal, I had to take it now, or be indicted with the owners of the company.

Until the weight of the federal government is brought down upon an innocent victim, it is impossible to understand the deep sense of betrayal that a citizen feels when confronted with this devil’s bargain. The federal government wages war on foreign dictators with stealth bombers and fighter jets, and when they set their sights on you as the next person they will wage war against, it is daunting beyond human comprehension.

What did I do? I told the prosecutor that I simply would not lie. Period. As far as I knew, no one had committed any crimes, including me. I would not tell his lies to save myself.

A few weeks later I received notice that I had indeed been indicted, and was forced to sit through a trial where Allen Davis recited his composition to the jury about crimes we all committed together–de-emphasizing his own involvement as it turned out. He walked away unscathed by his “confession” of group wrongdoing, while I and the company’s owners were destroyed. The prosecutors got a check mark in their “Win” column, and moved on with their lives. Justice served.

The Devil’s Bargain is real, and alive and well in America. Perhaps now that it is exposed in the light of day, being launched against the very highest officials in our government by a deep state that is drunk on the last convulsions of its ill-gotten power, the president will instruct the Attorney General to begin enforcing prosecutions against such lawlessness and injustice: #ProsecuteProsecutors